New Jersey and the nation head to the polls to select a new President. Read the stories and minute-by-minute observations of election day.

11:30PM WASHINGTON (AP) --Barack Obama has won re-electionto a second term as president, beating back a fierce challenge from Republican Mitt Romney. Obama prevailed despite a weak economy and high unemployment.

11:19 PM (AP) -- Obama wins Ohio. This makes the path to Obama's re-election much easier as no Republican has won the White House without this key swing state. The last president elected despite losing Ohio was Democrat John F. Kennedy in 1960, and the last sitting president to lose Ohio was George H.W. Bush in 1992 to Democrat Bill Clinton.

8:42 PM (AP) -- Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy has won a Senate seat in
Connecticut, defeating former wrestling executive Linda McMahon.
McMahon, who also ran for the Senate in 2010, spent more than $42
million of her own wealth on the race for retiring independent Sen.
Joe Lieberman's seat. Governor Christie spent a day campaigning for McMahon just before Hurricane Sandy hit.

5:30 PM (AP) — The survey of voters as they leave polling places Tuesday shows 6 in 10 voters say the economy is the top issue facing the nation, with unemployment and rising prices hitting voters hard. READ MORE.

4:00 PM TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey has extended the deadline for email voting for displaced residents. The Division of Elections has issued a new directive that gives displaced voters until 8 p.m. Friday to return email and fax ballots. They still must request the ballots by 5 p.m. today.

3:59PM: (AP) President Barack Obama has paused his Election Day schedule for a moment for something he loves — basketball. The president's motorcade made a 10 minute drive to Attack Athletics, a sports complex, to play hoops with friends and staff. Dozens of people lining the streets waved and cheered as Obama made his way to the complex. Among those playing alongside the president: Mike Ramos, a childhood friend from Hawaii, and Marty Nesbitt, a friend from Chicago.

3:58PM: CLEVELAND (AP) — It's a final, frantic round of campaigning today as voters decide who will occupy the White House for the next four years. Making one last pitch to Ohio voters, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan were in Cleveland today -- and so was Vice President Biden, on a surprise stop. The two Republicans are also stopping in Pittsburgh. President Barack Obama is spending the day in Chicago, reaching out to swing-state voters on the phones.

3:15PM: UNDATED (AP) — Sporadic problems are being reported today at polling places around the country. One voting machine in Pennsylvania lit up for Mitt Romney when a voter pressed the button for President Barack Obama. In Florida, a robocall glitch recycled calls intended for yesterday -- telling voters they had until "7 p.m. tomorrow" to vote.

2:57 PM: RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio (AP) — In a last-minute pitch for votes, Mitt Romney has told volunteers at a Cleveland-area campaign office that today is "a big day for change." His running mate Paul Ryan says Romney is "running on fumes" after a hectic campaign schedule in recent days. The two stopped for lunch at Wendy's, where Romney ordered a burger, chili and a Frosty.

2:56 PM: CHICAGO (AP) — President Barack Obama has congratulated rival Mitt Romney "on a spirited campaign" but says he's confident he's "got the votes to win." The president is spending Election Day in his hometown of Chicago, after a final campaign rally last night in Iowa. His agenda today includes playing basketball with his aides, an Election Day tradition he began in 2008.